IT’S A HIT!

D&D sold 1 000 copies in its first year, 3 000 in its second and then grew and grew.

Its perennial popularity saw it being adapted into an animated TV series in 1983 and in 2000 it was made into a movie adaption starring Jeremy Irons.

That film was a flop – but the 2016 release of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things helped revive interest in the game.

D&D is central to the Stranger Things plot: the main characters play the game and use it to make sense of the bizarre goings-on and monsters in their little town.

In 2023, the release of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves gave the game its due on the silver screen. The movie starred Chris Pine, Bridgerton’s RegéJean Page and Michelle Rodriguez, and was a hit with fans as well as moviegoers who couldn’t tell an orc from an ogre until they sat down on their cinema seats.

A TV series based on the movie is now in development and a documentary about D&D, co-directed by True Blood’s Joe Manganiello, is set for release this year.

“People who didn’t grow up with it are curious and want to play,” Joe says. “There is now widespread acceptance of geek culture because The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones have penetrated the mainstream market.

“Many of today’s actors, directors and writers grew up with D&D and you can see it in their work,” adds Joe, who’s one of D&D’s most famous fans.

Kyle Newman, who co-directs the doccie, says it took “a family of people” to understand the tradition and continue it. “So that’s what the documentary really gets into. You understand that this is a game that’s survived because of the people who play it and the people who love it.”

The game’s other famous fans include Dwayne Johnson, Steven Colbert and Drew Barrymore.